


fiat lux

by qqtahng



Series: Princely Relations [5]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 13:21:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13788618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qqtahng/pseuds/qqtahng
Summary: Leo and Takumi were different, and yet they weren't.





	fiat lux

**Author's Note:**

> as always, not beta'd, nor have i played any of the games

A rough peace had fallen over the kingdoms of Hoshido and Nohr ever since the war had ended. Nohr still needed to be rebuilt, Hoshido aided as best they could in their neighbor’s recovery so that a tragedy such as this might never befall them again. Tensions still ran rather high as anti-Nohrian feelings would not dissipate so easily from within Hoshido, nor would Nohrian views on Hoshido make it easy to gain trust, but neither King Xander nor King Ryoma allowed such sentiments to dissuade them from being friendly with the other country. 

Most days in Nohr were now quiet and filled with the sounds of slow progress towards stability. 

Which is why the sound of explosions was highly surprising. 

“Did that one work?”

“I think…? Not. Ugh, I’m beginning to think that this isn’t gonna work at all.”

Unsurprisingly, it was the two princes that were the source of the disruptive noises. 

It had been a few months since Ryoma had sent Takumi over to Nohr’s side as an official ambassador. While Takumi was very dutiful and carried out all his diplomatic work and then some, most of his time was spent with Leo. Despite the rocky start, the two had found good company in each other during the war and that had not changed once it ended. 

Takumi lowered his divine bow, “Leo, you know I’m not the local expert with magic here but shouldn’t something besides muted explosions be happening here? Or something besides literally nothing? This isn’t that much different from when we tried it on those Faceless during the war.”

“I’m certain that  _ something  _ should happen when we combine our attacks. For gods’ sake these are divine weapons! The Rainbow Sage crafted all of these himself! It stands to reason that they should be used in conjunction with each other, aside from just being used to power up Corrin’s Yato.” Leo flipped through Brynhildr. “Let me try a different spell.”

“I mean, your logic isn’t unsound, but I’m still not sure what exactly we’re doing wrong.” Takumi sighed and sat down, “There’s too many factors at play here to really see what’s going on.”

Leo hummed, “Let’s just start with one then. Maybe we just need to be more precise. Perhaps even the most minute change in where your arrows and my magic collides is a variable here.”

“Well, that’s most likely on you then,” Takumi tilted his head and smirked, “Like, some offense intended here, but you mages aren’t exactly heralded for precision accuracy when you can just set a whole area ablaze and conjure forth meteoric strikes.”

Leo’s eyebrows shot up in mock offense. He tried to think of a counter to Takumi’s accusation, but he felt his defenses come up short. He really did tend to rely on the brute power and force Brynhildr’s area of effect provided him.

“Okay Mr. Sharpshooter, then why don’t I fire my shots first and then you line the rest up. We’ll see if that does anything.”

Takumi stood up and stretched, “Alright, use the same spell as before though so we’ll know if it really is the timing.”

“Right, right. Now, ready and… Fire!”

Leo launched a moderately sized flame spell up into the air. Takumi took a deep breath, readied his arrow and aimed, and then fired. 

Unlike the previous times where the arrow was trained to graze the edges of the flame, Takumi aimed for and struck dead center this time.

Also unlike the previous times, instead of an explosion, the flames burst in a glorious shower of light before dissipating. Leo and Takumi stared at where the sparkles disappeared.

Leo pursed his lips, “You know, I was expecting something a little more… I don’t know, a little more grand? More devastating?”

“Are you kidding me? That was amazing! Just like the fireworks we have back in Hoshido!” Takumi let out a laugh, “I don’t think everything we have to do here needs to be some sort of grand militaristic gain. Hey, try it with a different spell now. Maybe different spells give off different colors!”

Leo rubbed his temples and sat down heavily, “Your enthusiasm is infectious, it truly is, Takumi. But let’s take a break. We’ve been at this for hours. I’m wondering why you haven’t shown any signs of fatigue yet.”

“Oh yeah I’m definitely tired, don’t get me wrong,” Takumi said hastily, “But it was just nice seeing a little glimpse of home, you know? I guess I felt a little more invigorated after that.” He rubbed his arm sheepishly.

‘Ah,’ Leo thought, ‘of course he would miss home after not stepping foot there for months.’ Takumi’s only regular form of contact with his family consisted of letters and packages small enough for the pegasus knights to ferry across the border. Occasionally, his family would pay him a visit in Nohr. Corrin being the most frequent visitor, followed by Hinoka and Sakura, and then very rarely Ryoma would drop by. Leo truly wished there was more leeway to allow Takumi to return home once in a while, but the current state of Nohr left too much to be done with progress that was already nowhere near fast enough. 

“I suppose I have a few good shots left in me before I keel over,” Leo stood up. “Shall we continue?”

Takumi looked him over, “If you’re really so tired we can take a break. My mild homesickness ranks a little less in terms of importance than your physical well-being after all.”

“Oh thank the gods,” Leo plopped back down, “Fire spells aren’t exactly my forte.”

Takumi placed his hands on his face in mock surprise, “Wow, the greatest mage and sorcerer in all of Nohr admits to not being good at magic? I must be dreaming.” Then, he sat down next to where Leo lay in the grass.

Leo punched him softly, “Oh shush you ass. I’ve spent all my life focusing on nature magic. That’s the complete opposite of what I’m doing here. Surely even an amatuer such as you could understand how difficult that is.”

Takumi snorted, “Yeah, yeah. Thanks for your effort today.” His face turned thoughtful. “Have you really spent all your life doing magic? Just like, from the get-go?”

“I did magic as soon as I was able to. Being able to use Brynhildr was a major factor in how I even survived the battle royale between my siblings and I.” Leo shrugged, “The fact that I could wield a divine weapon granted me the protection of Garon. Well, as much protection as he was willing to offer, anyway.”

Takumi’s brow creased, “Wow, uh. That’s… that’s intense.”

“It is what it is. It helped that magic actually interested me, so I had another motivation to get better. I’m sure you can understand, given how much you seem to adore your archery.”

“Ha. I mean, would you believe me if I told you there was a point in my life where I absolutely loathed anything to do with archery?”

Leo paused, he honestly couldn’t picture it. That didn’t fit for someone as hard-working and as devoted as Takumi. “I’m having a hard time believing it, quite frankly.”

“Yeah, well. The dislike was there.” Takumi hugged his knees. “Obviously, I’ve come to love it now, but it wasn’t always like that.”

“Sounds like there’s a story behind that. Mind if I prod for it?”

Takumi hugged his legs closer and rested his chin on his knees, “Mhm, well it was after my birth mother, Ikona died.”

Leo propped himself up on his elbows, realizing the gravitas of the reasoning he was about to hear. “If you don’t want to you tell me you don’t have to.”

“It’s fine. It’s been a while and it’s not really painful anymore. Sure, it’s still sad, but I don’t think she’d want me to be sad about it forever.”

Leo envious for a moment. He knew that Takumi essentially lost two maternal figures he was close to during his lifetime, which had to hurt. Especially given how young he was when the first occurred. But that still meant he actually had a mother who cared about him. Parents who cared about him. It felt to him it was better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. 

Takumi continued and shook him out of his thoughts. “It was after she died. After we had a funeral and everything for her, I was set to inherit Fujin Yumi. But I didn’t want it. I didn’t know how to use it. So I just left it alone. I thought that maybe if I never used it, it would still be hers and she wouldn’t be gone.” He gave a heavy sigh, “I mean, obviously that line of thinking didn’t work, and the elders on the council eventually pressured me into picking it up.”

Leo sneered, “Ugh, old people.”

“I know, right? Yeah, but they still made me pick it up. Father - Sumeragi, I mean -  tried to get them off my case for a while, but even he had to agree at some point that I couldn’t mourn forever. So I started practicing. I was already the best archer in my family, not that I had much competition from ‘Look at my sword’ Ryoma and ‘I can use three lances at once’ Hinoka. It took a while before I was actually able to use Fujin Yumi though. But the first time I shot it, it was exhilarating. I think that was the point where I really started liking archery instead of just settling for it as a niche in my family. I like to think mother would have been proud of me in that moment.”

“I think she would have been proud of you, too.” Leo replied earnestly.

“Thanks. Ugh, gods I think I just realized how much of a baby I was compared to you. You, who was essentially running with knives at the tender age of, what, six?”

Leo raised an eyebrow, “Excuse you, I don’t think you give me or yourself enough credit. First of all, it is always a struggle losing someone dear to you, no matter the age. I certainly don’t think your age helped at all considering that was a crucial time in development for a child. Not only that, you lost your father and  _ then _ another mother afterwards. At least I never cared much about my mother, so I didn’t feel anything when she died. Except maybe relief.” He gave a disgusted look at the thought of her.

“What a ruthless child you were,” Takumi said sarcastically, “But, thanks for the words I guess. It makes me feel a little less pathetic.”

“Anytime. And secondly,” Leo put on a serious expression, “I’ll have you to know that I was running with knives at the tender age of five, thank you very much. Age six was when I was running around with open flames in the palm of my hand. I will not have my weapon proficiency so easily slandered.”

Takumi had prepared himself for some sort of heavy and dark truth regarding Leo’s past and childhood, but had lost all composure once he heard what Leo had to say, “Oh my god you fucking nerd,” Takumi threw his head back in laughter. 

“Well, I didn’t get this far in life from being a meathead,” Leo gave a lopsided smile, “And what does that make you if you’ve managed to befriend such a nerd, hm?”

“A perfectly normal person who just so happened to befriend the nerdiest person in all of Nohr.” Takumi replied matter-of-factly. Then he became silent for a moment, as if he was thinking.

“But geez Leo… I can only imagine what you guys had to go through…” Takumi shuddered as he presumably imagined such a macabre setting.

Leo shrugged, “I don’t think it bothers us as much anymore. It’s not as if the mere mention of that bloodbath would send me into a spiraling depression. We all just eventually became desensitized to it, to a degree. Obviously there is still some… scarring, there.”

“Still, that doesn’t make it any less gruesome…” 

“It was for survival, Takumi. Especially after Elise was born.” Leo smiled a bit fondly at the memory, “The three of us vowed to protect her as best we could, lest what little light in Nohr become extinguished. I think we did a pretty good job, all things considered.”

Takumi chuckled, “That’s a sentiment I can share. Now then,” He pushed himself up to his feet with a small grunt, “How about we figure out how to make some more light in Nohr, eh?” He offered a hand to Leo, "Literally this time."

Leo took it and let himself be pulled up, “Alright, alright. I  _ suppose  _ I could indulge you for a bit longer.”

“Oh I know you’re just as excited as me you heartless bastard. Just find the next flame spell in that tome of yours so we can see if we can pull off a design or two.”

“My, my Prince Takumi, how ambitious you are.”

“My ambition can only be matched by yours, Prince Leo.” Takumi gave a bow. “And since you brought her up earlier, Elise’s birthday is coming up, right? I, for one, think that a light show would be a perfect gift for her.”

Leo hummed thoughtfully, “You’re not wrong, but why not just import your Hoshidan fireworks instead?”

“Isn’t it better when it’s a homemade gift? This is a labor of love, Leo!” Takumi said indignantly, before a cheeky grin appeared on his face, “Besides, we can always pretend to be offended if she doesn’t appreciate it.”

“She’ll love anything you give her,” Leo huffed, “I still can’t believe how quickly you guys got along.”

Takumi poked his arm, “That’s because she wasn’t an asshole. Now get that flame ready! I wanna shoot something and be rewarded for my efforts!”

“Ugh, truly insufferable,” Leo rolled his eyes and grinned as he readied his spell, “Alright, on the count of three.”

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three!”

And then, there was light.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> i imagine nohrian royal childhood being a lot of things like
> 
> younger camilla: let me see what you have  
> baby leo: A KNIFE!  
> camilla: NO!!!!!!!!!


End file.
